CONQUEST OF TIME AND SPACE 



The Diesel engines themselves in the Selandia oc- 

 cupy about as much space as the engine equipment 

 alone of the ordinary steam plant; but even in this 

 regard a further economy of space will be possible. 

 Meantime the engine room of the new craft is not 

 only guiltless of dust and smoke, but is cool and com- 

 fortable. The glare of flame-belching furnaces of the 

 ordinary steamship, along with the torrid heat and 

 the picturesque array of stokers sweltering and be- 

 grimmed are strikingly conspicous by their absence. 



How far the Diesel engine has passed beyond the 

 experimental stage will be further evidenced when 

 it is noted that the Selandia, a vessel of 370 feet length 

 and 58 feet beam, is not merely a cargo boat, but has 

 accommodation for about a score of passengers who 

 are comfortably quartered in a deckhouse forward of 

 the engines in large cabins having bathrooms en suite. 

 She belongs to the East Asiatic Company and on 

 leaving London started on her maiden voyage to the 

 East. The engines of the Selandia are in two sets, 

 each having eight cylinders of 20.8 inches by 28.7 

 inches giving together 2500 indicated horse power 

 at 140 revolutions per minute. The general ap- 

 pearance of the engine is that of ordinary recipro- 

 cating steam engines. 



The operation of the engine may be briefly de- 

 scribed thus : The upward stroke of the piston sucks 

 air into the cylinder. The return stroke compresses 

 the air to about 300 atmospheres, and hence heats it 

 to a high degree of temperature. A spray of oil is 

 then injected into the compressed and superheated 

 air. The heat of the compressed air ignites the oil 



283 



